"The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself; but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity" - Marcus Garvey

Philanthropic Perception

The time has come for us to move forward in the spirit of returning what has been taken from society, our families, and you as a man– Responsibility! Listening to us whimper, I begin to wonder, why even complain if we choose not to change our actions? Quick to place blame on everyone else but ourselves. How can we continue to ignore the fact that our children are being raised without us, due to our crimes, someone’s life will never be the same, the list goes on…

I’ve been pulling licks (crimes) for most of my life, but never gave thought to whom I may have hurt. “We deserve to be treated like humans”, came the cry of the prisoners, but evidently we weren’t concerned about the well being of the victims when we demanded their valuables, or smoked (kill) that youngin’ for running his mouth, What about their lives, their rights? I guess your response may be, “damn them… Welcome to your harsh reality…huhh! If that’s the case, why should anyone have sympathy for you, us, when we could care less about our victims? Can you even understand where I’m coming from?

Depending on our wishful thinking, and hoping the mood of the politicians will change in our favor, in reinstating 65% parole eligibility. That would spell the difference between day and night for countless prisoners. In the mean time, we need to take this time to change ourselves and incorporate a sense of giving back to society. Giving back to society indicates that you have change and should be afforded the opportunity to be paroled. It will speak volumes of your growth and your maturity as an adult. “Power is not in holding, but in giving away.” – Maestro Ben Zander[Abdus-Salaam]